Growers making wine go green

Phillip Gregan. Photo / Paul Estcourt

One-fifth of New Zealand vineyards will be organic by 2020 if an association of like-minded local growers has its way.

Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (OWNZ), a 140-member body, yesterday announced a campaign to get 20 per cent of this country's vines organically grown over the next nine years.

The group has signed a memorandum of understanding with New Zealand Winegrowers, another industry organisation, to promote organic production through education, research and marketing initiatives funded by wine industry levies.

OWNZ chairman James Millton said the "20 per cent by 2020" goal was a huge step towards promoting this country's green image to wine connoisseurs around the world.

Only 4.5 per cent of Kiwi vineyards are currently organic, according to OWNZ.

"The main outcome with organic winegrowing, and any other form of growing organic plants and animals, is that a closer relationship is established with Mother Nature."

New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said demand was growing for organically produced wine, and expansion of organics was an important part of the industry's 10-year plan.

"From a producer perspective there's certainly a lot of interest in doing things as natural as possible," Gregan said.

But New Zealand Wine Company chief executive Rob White said making organically grown wine was not currently a priority for the listed firm.

Only one of the company's vineyards, representing about 8 per cent of the total, was being converted to organic, and demand for such wine was "not great", he said.

Neil Ibbotson, managing director of Marlborough's Saint Clair Family Estate, said the company was trying to determine whether organic or traditionally grown grapes were best.

"At the moment, in the early stages of it, the organic wine is not showing up superior," Ibbotson said.

OWNZ said the amount of certified organic vineyard land tripled in New Zealand over the past three years as growers tried to differentiate themselves in a tough marketplace.

Mission Estate - which claims the title of this country's oldest winery - is one of those going chemical-free.

"We are attracted to the natural approach to growing, which is the core of our business," said Caine Thompson, a viticulturist at the Hawkes Bay firm.

"Blocks are visited and monitored more often, resulting in a genuine attachment to the land and the vine growing within its environment."

No synthetic chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides are permitted on organic vineyards. Instead, organic producers must work with ecological processes and natural products.